Local firehouses have eliminated select day or night shifts as a result of budget cuts.
Fire truck sirens at Point Breeze’s Engine 24 were silent during Monday’s day shift as part of the deparments scheduled brown outs.
The Philadelphia Fire Department has begun brown outs, which include three engines locally.
“Rest assured that we have not closed any firehouses nor did we lay off any of our firefighters and the department will continue to respond to your call and tend to any and every emergency that may arise in an urgent and timely manner,” Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said in a press release.
The “rolling brown outs” kicked off at 8 a.m. Monday with three engines or ladders closed during the 10-hour day shift and three more shuttered for the 14-hour night shift. Engine 24, 1200 S. 20th St., did not operate 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday while Engine 3, 200-10 Washington Ave., will be shut down for the same duration today and Engine 53, 414-16 Snyder Ave., will not operate 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Aug. 13.
The brown outs are to help eliminate overtime allowing the department to shuffle workers.
“You’re still scheduled to work, but I’ll be detailed somewhere else in the city,” said a firefighter with a local affected company, who did not wish to be named in fear of retribution. “Someone might be on vacation in the Northeast and they’ll send me up there.”
The Fire Department is already skimping by. In South Philly, Ladder 11, 1357 S. 12th St., and Engine 1, 711-23 S. Broad St., were shut down as the result of fall 2008 budget cuts.
Last summer, Medic 11, 2600 S. 13th St., and Medic 35, 711-23 S. Broad St., were slated to swap hours — 11 to 12-hour and 35 to 24-hour operation — before resident outrage halted the switch.
Effective Saturday, three local medic’s hours and services were changed, according to a memorandum from Ayers to employees. Both Medic 35 and Medic 14B, 1200 S. 20th St., became a 24-hour units with the former switching from advanced to basic life support and the latter upgrading to advanced. Medic 21, 601-09 South St., formerly a full-time advanced unit, will cut its night shift hours.
“It just seems like our area is getting hit more than any other area,” the source said.
The plan to cut spending for the Fire Department came after City Council passed a $3.85 billion budget, which Mayor Michael Nutter’s administration deemed to not leave a large enough surplus.
Now surrounding fire companies will have to cover the browned out areas prolonged response times, which are already up, according to the anonymous firefighter said.
“[City officials] are scraping a little more away,” he said. “We’re down to the bones now. You’re going to have to wait more for us to come to your aid.”
“The neighborhoods will be decimated,” Local 22 President Bill Gault added. “… The city has been so blessed that they haven’t had any big incidents in the past 18 months, almost biblical, but it’s going to happen.”
Neighbors of Engine 53 will be rallying behind their local firehouse 5 p.m. Aug. 13 — its first scheduled brownout, Mark Squilla, Whitman Council president, said.
“Anytime you want to cut police or fire stations it’s always a scary thought for the safety of the community and that’s one thing we’ll always fight for,” the Front Street and Snyder Avenue resident said.
Contact Staff Writer Amanda Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
Brown outs will occur at Engine 3 during the day shift (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on Aug. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 and at Engine 24 during the day shift (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on Aug. 3, 8, 13, 18, 23 and 28. During the night shift (6 p.m. to 8 a.m.) on Aug. 13 and 25, brown outs will occur at Engine 53.
The International Association of Fire Fighters – Local 22 is concerned about what its members deem as unnecessary paramedic reassignments.
The community started buzzing last week when news broke about the most recent proposed slashes to the fire department, which would've changed the hours of five medic units across the city, including two in South Philly Monday. But after calls were placed to City Council members, the plans were at least temporarily put on hold.
Disasters never discriminate. Awareness of that fact prompted about 150 residents of the Pennsport and Whitman sections of South Philadelphia to show dissent early Friday evening for the initial brown out of Engine 53, 414-16 Snyder Ave. Bellowing chants and vowing further forms of outcry, they assembled to rebuke the City’s latest initiative to dwindle its deficit.
The residents of the 2000 block of South Fourth Street in Pennsport are knocking on Mayor Michael Nutter’s door, wondering about the ongoing city-wide brown-outs of fire companies after a two-alarm blaze the early hours of Thursday hospitalized one and destroyed condos.
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